Washington METRO: A People's Eye View
Much has been written about the technical aspects of this 101 mile, 86 station system. But as important in Washington, D.C. were the political aspects. Backed by Presidents; scrutinized...
$20 Million for Billet Grinding Eliminates Waste
Republic Steel Corp. invested $20,000,000 in the world's largest billet grinding facility for conditioning steel, in Canton, Ohio. It was nominated for the 1979 Outstanding...
Corps Takes New Approach to Flood Control
As urban development increased storm runoff into the Charles River, a dam built in 1910 became inadequate to protect the Boston area from flooding. Boston suffered $5,000,000 in flood...
More Than Just Another Routine Job
Split-second scheduling, attention to community needs and esthetics�� all figures into the design and construction of the Mission Road highway-railroad grade separation in central Los...
Intercity Bridge: First Major U.S. Cable-Stayed Bridge
The Intercity Bridge spans the Columbia River, connecting the cities of Pasco and Kennewick, Wash. It is the longest cable-stayed, concrete bridge in the U.S. (2,403-ft) and it has been...
Largest Inverted Shell Houses Two Theaters
A meeting center in Albany, New York, has such a complex shape that it took months just to design its surface mathematically. Perched on a pedestal, it is nearly elliptical in plan. From...
Honolulu Sewage Plant Pioneers Advanced Primary Treatment, Has Deepest Ocean Outfall
Honolulu recently started up a new sewage treatment plant that brings a new twist to decades-old sewage-treatment technology: advanced primary treatment. Key to this primary treatment...
Modern Engineering Saves Troubled Dam
A badly deteriorated and potentially unsafe dam has been recycled. The 135-ft-high, 300-ft-long LaPrele Dam is a concrete slab-and-buttress structure. Its sloping face slab has leaked...
New York: Water City
New York's waterfront (some 584 miles) is its most impressive natural resource and its biggest management headache. In Manhattan, changes in waterfront technology (container...
Will EPA Relax Its Mandatory Secondary Treatment Requirement�
In the Clean Water Act of 1977, Congress said that under some circumstances communities discharging to marine waters might not have to provide full secondary treatment. At the present...
Space: A Place to Work
An overview of the nation's space program as space shuttle capability nears reality. The cargo truck aspects of the shuttle will transform our efforts in space. In the near...
Energy From Space
Patented by Peter Glaser in 1973 the solar power satellite is a concept still mindboggling to some. It is a satellite orbiting 22,300 miles (35,800 km) above earth in geosynchronous orbit....
Coming This Year: Reusable Link with Space
Scheduled for launch in early 1980, the Space Shuttle is the first reusable space vehicle. It will reduce space flight cost, saving an estimated $11.2 billion between 1980 and 1991. This...
Building Skyscrapers in Orbit
NASA plans to build a host of large structures (communications antennas, remote-sensing radiometers, solar power satellites, etc.) in space. Three ways to build them are: (1)Fabricate...
What Has the U.S. Gotten Out of the Space Program�
Since the time of its creation in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has spent billions of dollars on space activities. What has the U.S. gotten out of these tremendous...
First Line of Atlanta's New Transit System Opens
With lessons learned from San Francisco and Washington, D.C., Atlanta hopes to avoid some of the problems encountered by those cities in building and operating its new transit system....
Has Metrication Run Out of Gas�
The U.S. is the only major country not to have adopted the International System of Units (SI) as its official measurement system, but the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 established official...
Water Management Improves with Systems Application
The Marsh Run watershed project (in north-central Ohio) is a landmark example of applying systems principles to water resource management. Designed in the 1950's and completed...
Best Ways to Dewater Dredged Material
Left to its own devices, fine-grained dredged material placed in confined disposal areas reaches an equilibrium water content near its Atterberg liquid limit. The high water content of...
Industry Upgrades Technician Training
Here is one example where regulations were imposed by industry�voluntarily. The Washington Area Council of Engineering Laboratories, Inc., developed a program to certify technicians testing...
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